Museum Merger Foes Seek Mediation

Opponents of the Newport Harbor-Laguna Art Museum merger have asked trustees to consider engaging a mediator to resolve their lawsuit seeking to overturn the move.

Motivated Museum Members sent a letter to trustees on Friday suggesting mediation aimed at returning independence to the 78-year-old Laguna Art Museum, now a semiautonomous branch of the consolidated Orange County Museum of Art.

On Thursday, a Santa Ana Superior Court judge granted the group’s request to file an amended complaint, but for the second time in two months rejected its request to undo the merger. Judge Raymond J. Ikola also refused to grant a request to temporarily bar the Orange County Museum of Art from using the assets accumulated by the Laguna museum.

Those defeats, however, did not prompt the opponents’ mediation offer, which still must be approved by the group’s board, their attorneys said Friday. The group had discussed the idea before filing its latest motion and thought mediation would save money, they said.

“It also seems [attorneys from each side are] not doing very well at discussing the issues,” attorney Belinda Blacketer said.

Group president Vern Spitaleri has said they will not give up their fight until “we have our museum back.” If mediation is agreed to, the group probably would not settle for anything less than the Laguna museum’s independence, Blacketer said.

But Shelley M. Liberto, attorney for the Orange County Museum of Art, said it will not agree to that. “But,” he said, “that doesn’t mean we can’t find some common ground for mediation and settlement.”

Liberto said the mediation offer signals a backing down by opponents, “probably prompted by [Thursday’s] court ruling.”